Phi Beta Iota: One can only speculate about how much taxpayer money was assigned to each of these over 40 countries — this is a question that Congress should be asking, and it is a question that the elected officials in each of these countries should be asking. NSA appears to have been paying for services that were not declared to the respective host country governments and also were in all likelihood a violation of host country laws.

Phi Beta Iota: The Front Page Rule was briefed to CIA Career Trainee classes in the 1970’s and 1980’s and has been an ethics standard since at least the Carter Administration. The other really cool rule, the single best rule of engagement we have ever heard, is this: “use this weapon as a last resort — when you think the alternative of going to jail for life is a good one.”